Susan and Christopher from Red Bank, NJ have been Green Sun Energy Services clients since October of 2018. Christopher is a partner in the business, which is worth saying plainly rather than leaving a reader to find out – and it is also why this house has had four trades through it over six years, each one going onto the same 200-amp service as the last.
37 panels and 9.62 kW
The array went up first and was producing by 4 February 2019: 37 Canadian Solar modules split across two roof planes, 5.72 kW on one and 3.90 kW on the other, on Enphase microinverters and rail-free mounting. Two planes facing different ways is exactly the case microinverters are for – each panel converts on its own, so the smaller and less favorable array is not held to the pace of the larger one. The first-year estimate was 10,933 kilowatt hours, and the monitoring gateway sits indoors in the garage beside the service panel rather than out in the weather.
The roof it went onto
Worth a line of its own, because it is the version everyone wants and few people get: the roof was sound, so the array went straight on. No tear-off, no reroof to schedule around, and nothing to work around on the day.
A 20 kW Generac on a managed whole-house switch
The load survey called for a minimum of 14 kW under NEC Article 220 Part IV, and a 20 kW Generac went in behind a 200-amp managed whole-house transfer switch with two load-management modules and whole-house surge protection. The house is 2,566 square feet with two refrigerators, a sump pump, a washer and a gas dryer. The modules are what make a whole-house switch honest at this size: rather than nominating circuits to leave off, they shed the largest intermittent loads only while those loads would otherwise overrun the machine.
A ChargePoint Home Flex on a 60-amp circuit
The charger arrived in 2023 – hardwired, J1772, on a 60-amp breaker, adding roughly 36 miles of range an hour. That is the quick end of home charging and it is a serious load to add to a panel. It was a straightforward job here only because the service had already been surveyed twice, once for the array and once for the generator.
Warm white C9 lights
In November of 2024, a hundred warm white C9 bulbs went along the roofline – the large traditional bulb, warm white rather than multicolored, installed by a crew that already knew the roof.
Why the order made the later work easy
An array, a standby generator and a fast charger are three large things hanging off one 200-amp service, and the order they arrive in decides how hard each is to fit. Here the solar came first, onto a roof that needed nothing; the generator was sized knowing the array was there, which is why it is a whole-house machine with load management and not a circuit list; and the charger went onto a service already proved twice over. None of that shows on the finished house, and all of it is why nothing had to be undone.
Project Facts
- Location
- Red Bank, NJ
- Services
- Christmas Light Installation, EV Charger Installation, Solar Panel Installation, Standby Generator Installation, Standby Generator Service
- Client since
- October 2018
Solar
- Panels
- Canadian Solar Model # CS6P-260P
- Panels
- 37
- System size
- 9.62 kW
- Inverter
- EnPhase M215-60-2LL-S22/S23
- Mounting system
- Ecolibrium Solar
- Estimated first-year production
- 10,933 kWh
- Share of the home's electricity
- 44%
- Electric utility
- JCP&L
Standby generator
- Manufacturer
- Generac Model # 7039-1
- Rated output
- 20 kW LP / 18 kW NG
- Fuel
- Natural Gas
- Home sized for
- 2,566 sq ft
- Electrical service
- 200 amp
- Transfer switch
- 200 amp
- Load management
- Managed Whole House
EV charger
- Charger
- ChargePoint Model # CPH50-HARDWIRE-L23
- Charging port
- CCS (J1772)
- Circuit breaker
- 60 amp
- Charging stations
- 1
- Estimated range added per hour
- Estimated Range Per Hour: 36 mi / 58 km
Holiday lighting
- Lights
- LED C9, warm white (2700K), 12-inch spacing
- Bulbs installed
- 100
Questions from Red Bank homeowners
Standby generatorCan the existing natural-gas service in a Red Bank home supply a generator?
Often yes, but the gas system has to be evaluated first. The review covers the generator's BTU demand, meter capacity, available pressure, regulator capacity, pipe diameter and length, and every other gas appliance in the house -- furnace, boiler, water heater, range and fireplace among them.
SolarWhat is a microinverter and why use one per panel?
A microinverter is a small inverter installed at or near an individual module, so each panel converts on its own channel. That gives module-level visibility and limits the effect one underperforming panel has on the others around it.
EV chargingWhich charger makes sense if the next car might be a different brand?
A universal approach is worth considering: a Home Flex with either connector, or a Tesla Universal Wall Connector with its integrated J1772 adapter. A charger installed today is likely to outlast the car parked in front of it, so the connector decision is worth making for the household rather than the current vehicle.
Holiday lightingCan lights be installed where there are no gutters?
Yes. Depending on the architecture, compatible clips can attach to shingles, fascia, drip edge or trim. Brick, stucco and vinyl each need their own approach — stucco in particular, because puncturing or damaging the finish can cause cosmetic and moisture problems that outlast the season considerably.
Standby generatorDoes a propane generator need permits in Red Bank?
A permanently installed propane generator normally requires construction permits, and the propane installation has to satisfy the applicable fuel-gas and LP-gas requirements. Tank placement, capacity, piping, regulators, setbacks and fire-safety provisions all come under review.